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FAST SERMON 



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A 
FAST SEKMON 

ON 

SLAVERY. 

DELIVERED 

APRIL 2, 1835, 

TO THE 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH & SOCIETY 

IN 

DOVER, N. H. 



By DAVID ROOT, Pastor. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CHURCH. 



DOVER: 

PRINTED AT THE ENQUIRER OFFICE, 
1835. 



SERMON. 



ISAIAH LVIII. 6. 



*• Is not this the fast lliat 1 have uliusen ? to looae tlie bauds of wickedness, 
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break 
every yoke .-'" 

Our excellent Governor in liis proclamation apiKjintiug this day 
to be observed as a day of tasting and prayer, among other im- 
portant matter, has recommended, that our supplications be offered 
in behalf of the oppressed, that " God would graciously unloose 
all heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free." 

Taking occasion therefore frotii this item of the document, I 
propose to direct your attention at the present time, to the sub- 
ject of oppression. It is one in which this nation, and every in- 
dividual of this nation, ought to feel a deep and trembling interest. 
I do not suppose, my beloved hearers, that any of us, even those 
who have thought most and prayed most in reference to this sub- 
ject, have any adequate conceptions of die extent to which it in- 
volves the destinies of this nation. 

Slavery like an incubus presses upon the heart of this republic. 
It is a cancer fastened upon the vitals of this great community. It 
is evil and only evil and evil continually. It stirs the wrath of 
heaven, and if (here be a God on high who legislates in right- 
eousness, linless speedy repentance prevent, the days of this na- 
tion are nearly numbered and finished. No apology therefore is 
needed for introducing to your consideration this subject on the 
present occasion. 

The words prefixed to this discourse are appropriate ami in 
like manner lead us to the contemplation ol the same subject. — 
The prophet by inspiration is teaching us what is the kind ol fast 
of which God accepts and approves. " Is not this the fast that I 



have cIkjsch ? to loose tliu Ijaiulbtjt wicLcliiCb?, lo undo the heavy 
biirflens and lo lei the '>i)i)res.bcd go h'ee, and lliat ve break every 
yoke/' 

Tills ii- ihe way llien in which God would have lib la:^t, not 
merely to afiiict our souls, but to nerve up oui minds to works of 
mercy and be ready to \nit iorlh actual and e/hcicnt efibrts in be- 
half of the oppressed. 

But lei us understand what slavery is. In the words of our 
text, the bands of slavery are called bands of wickedness, be- 
cause slavery is sin. To this point then let us first attend. 

I. Slaveri/ is sta. The lesliniony ol'the scriptures in reference 
to this point is sufficienlly clear and decisive. They condenm 
every species of oppression. Unjust men and extortioners are 
by the law of the Eternal excluded from heaven. For it is writ- 
len, ''the hope of unjust men perisheth." But no injustice so 
flagrant as slavery. And again, it is written, " neither thieves, 
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor rcvilers, nor extortioners, shall 
inherit the kingdom of God.'' But no extortion so foul as thai 
of slavery. It takes not only all that a man hath, but for the 
want of more, it extorts body and soul. 

We have no right to keep back the wages of those who serve 
us. " The laborer is worthy of his hire." To withhold pay- 
ment, because we have the power to do so, is gross fraud. And 
hence says the apostle, " Behold, the hire of the laborers who 
liave reaped down your fields, w hich of you is kept back by fraud, 
crieth : and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into 
the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." Slavery keeps back every 
thing. The slave holder compels his fellow man by violence to 
serve him without ;iny remuneration whatever. The slave owns 
nothing, not even the rags on his back, not even his flesh and 
limbs. The master claiujs to own his body and soul, and for Uie 
sake of gain, taxes his bones and nmscles to any extent he pleases. 

There are parts of the Okl Testament, which by some persons 
have been interpreted as favoring slavery, particularly, what is 
said of Abraham's servants. But Abraham's servants were not 
slaves. They were (rained or educated servants, or dependants, 
who went with him to battle, who fought side by side w'ith him, 
and who shared widi him the spoils of victory. 

Truly, there is a law in the Old Testament which recognizes sla- 
very, but recognizes it as a crime, a foul crime, a capital crime. 
" He that stealeth a man and scllelh him, or if he be found in his 
hand, he shall surely be put to death." Suffice it to say, 
there is not an instance of involuntary servitude justified in the 
Old Testament, except in cases where it was required by God 
as a punishment for sin. This declaration is not made unadvised- 
ly. We repeat, there is no instance of involuntary servitude jus- 
tified in the Old Testament but as a punishment for sin. 



.Moreover, what \e>=^on do we ienni upon tliis subject from ihe? 
history of the Flgyptitin bondage ? 'J'haf bondage wn? eompara- 
fively liglit. It was only tiibiitaiy. Under that bondage, the 
Israelites not only owned iliemselves, bnt they liad possessions, 
property ; lor when they went out of Egypt, they took with them 
their flocks, their herds, and their little ones. And yet eonipara- 
tively light as it was, it provok(Ml the wrath of hea\en, and Gotl 
exhibited judgment after judgment of the most fearfnl rbaracter, 
until he eftectiially " brake the arm of the oppressor and let the 
oppressed go free." 

But let us continue our examination. And what may we oiith- 
er in relation to this subject from the instructions of the New 
Testament? Why, masters are commanded to " give unto their 
servants," or those who serve them, "that which is just and equal." 
Now, it will be perceived at once, that this passage condemns 
slavery altogether; for let masters •.bey this precept and give un- 
to those who serve them that which is just and equal, that is, wa- 
ges, fair wages, (and nothing less than this can be accounted just 
and equal) and slavery ceases. Such servants thus compensated 
are no longer slaves. For it is impossible to hold servants as 
slaves, as property, and yet give unto them ihat which is just and 
equal. The very position involves a gross inconsistencv and ab- 
surdity. 

But are not servants commanded to be obedient unto their 
masters .'' They are indeed. But that command furnishes no 
justification of slavery. Those who serve slioidd obey those who 
are to be served. The injunction is wise and proper. Jf you 
were to employ a servant, a laborei-, a mechanic, or one to serve 
you in any capacity, and he refused to follow }our instructions, 
would that be right ': Surely not. 'j'hosa who serve should ob- 
serve the directions of their employers.* But servants are not 
slaves. The original word douloi does not necessarilv signif) 
slaves. And the connexion in which it is most frequently found 
in the New Testament, shews that it does not. Take two or 
three examples. Paul i> frequently called a servant of Jescis 
Christ. But Paid was not the slave of Jesus Christ. " Behold 
my servant whom I have chosen." But that Christ was the slave 
of God the Father is an impious thought. Joshua was the servant 
of IVloses, Elisha of Elijah, Gehazi of Elisha, and all the apostles 
were the servants of Jesus Christ, but not the slaves of Jesus 
Christ. Our Saviour says, "where I am there shall also my 
servants be." But the servants of Christ are not his slaves. In- 
stances ol this kind are exceedingly numerous. The word serv- 
ant then, in its ordinary acceptation, does not signify a slave, but 
one who serves, one w ho is employed to do service. And in this 
^ense it is evidently to be taken in those passages in which serv- 
ants are required to be obedient to their masters. 



"But was not Oueslmiis a runaway slave whom Paul sent back 
to Philemon his master ? No, my liearers, we deny the position 
that he was a slave. He was a servant^ and in some way prob- 
ably boinid lo do Philen'ioa service, and had perhaps failed ol" ful- 
filling his ene;agements, and hence Paid says to PhiJemon, " if he 
hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that to mine ac- 
-count," which could not properly be said in regard to a slave. A 
slave being himself property can own nothing, nor can he properly 
be said to owe him by whom he is owned. He cannot owe his 
owner. To suppose then that Onesimus was a slave is gratuit- 
ous and contrary to evidence. Besides, if he had been a slave, 
it seems hardly probable that Paul would have sent him back, as 
he was forbidden to do so by the Mosaic law, which forbade any 
Israelite to give up the slave who had escaped lo him. Paul 
however sent him back to be received, " not even as a serv- 
ant, but above a servant, a brother beloved." Whether there- 
fore he were a slave or not, no jusiinration of slavery can be 
found in this transaction. 

And look for one moment, I beseech you, my hearers, at the 
consequences of supposing that Paul justified slavery. If Paul 
jnstified slaveiy, then he justified the principle, that power gives 
right to enslave. And upon this principle, if I am the stronger, 
I have only to exercise my [lower and by violence reduce you to 
vassalage, in order to furnish myself with a just claim to your 
uncompensated services. For the slave holder retains his vic- 
tim by no better right, and by no other right, than that of brute 
force. 

Adopt this |)iinciple then, and you necessarily justify the very 
worst forms of tyrannv and despotism that ever curst the world. 
Adopt this principle extensively, and the consequences would be 
absolutely horrible. Adopt iliis })rinciple, and Pharaoh was in- 
nocent. Nero was mild and merciful. The exorbitant de- 
mands of the mother coimtry upon her American Colonies, if she 
could have carried her points, would have been just and right. 
Indeed, no Jacobin of the French revolution ever justified a more 
dangerous dortrine than this. Robespierre woidd have blushed 
to own such a doctiino. The very devils would be ashamed to 
acknowledge the principle that power gives right to oppress. — 
Power gives right ! ! Why, there are no forms of crime which 
it would not sanction. And no language, of course, can express 
the abhorrence which we ought to feel toward such a principle 

Let us beware then, how we slauder that generous minded 
apostle by intimating that he justified slavery, O, if Paul him- 
self were present, with what just indignation would he repel the 
slanderous im[)Utation : 1 Pawl justify slavery r 1 who taught 
and enforced the benevolent plan of the Gospel, and how ye 
ought "to do justice aiul love mercy," — "lo render to all their 



«iues," — to those Pvho serve you, ''that which ia just and equal'" — 
1 who taught you that the law was made for manstealers as well 
as for liars and perjured persons ? 1 justify slavery .'' 1 who 
enforced the great law of love ? God forbid ! 

My hearers, no man feels that slavery is right. No man is 
willing to be a slave. Liberty is dear. All men love it, and 
would sooner fight for it than for any other object on earth. Un- 
influenced by interest or prejudice all men condemn slavery. If 
there be one instinctive sentiment in the human breast, it is that 
slavery is wrong. 

But contemplate, for a moment, some general principles of 
moral action recognized by the word of God. The scriptures 
specify'' few crimes. They advance general principles frouj 
which we are to gather lesson.s of duty. 

The eighth commandment says, " thou shalt not steal." — 
What is it to steal ? It is to take clandestinely that which belongs 
to another. What is it to rob .'' It is to take by force that which 
belongs to another. By what name then shall we call the crime 
of him who takes by force, not only what belongs to another, but 
takes by force that other's own self, body and soul, makes him a 
prisoner for hfe, and for mercenary purposes taxes his bones and 
muscles to the utmost extent of which they are capable, every 
day and every hour, to the last moment of his mortal existence. 
By what name, I ask, shall we call this crime r To call it rob- 
bery would be inadequate and tame. He who by violence at- 
tempts to efface from his fellow man the image of God, by mak- 
ing him a beast of burden, perpetrates a crime for which the vo- 
cabulary of our language furnishes no adequate name. It is the 
most flagrant violation of the eighth commandment which can be 
conceived. 

Consider also the golden rule of our Saviour, " Do unto oth- 
ers as you would that others should do unto you." If you then, 
an innocent man, were in unjust and cruel bondage, what would 
be reasonable for you to ask and expect of those who held you 
thus ? Certainly it would be reasonable for you to ask and ex- 
pect that your yoke be immediatelv broken and that you go free. 
Suffice it to say, no man who hold> his fellowman as property 
does by him as he would bo done by. In every such instance 
the golden rule of the Saviour is violated. For no slave-hold- 
er would willingly be treated as he treats his victim. Would he 
be willing to be robbed every day of his just earnings, to be kept 
in utter ignorance, to be subjected to the caprice and cruelty of an 
irresponsible individual, lo be bruti/.ed and held merely as 
beasts of burden ? I need not answer. 

But let us for a moment contemplate the bands of wickedness 
with which our colored countrymen are bound, and the heavy 
burden which they are made to bear, and see if we have not just 
2 



10 

occasion to fast and pray, and be humbled before God on account 
of our iniquitous oppressions. Look at slavery then as it exists in 
these United States. 

What is it ? To show you what is its true aspect, allow me to 
present you with the following summary gathered from the slave- 
holding laws of the South. It is principally an abstract from that 
part of Mrs Child's Appeal which treats of this subject. 

1 . " Slavery is hereditary and perpetual to the last moment of 
the slave's earthly existence, and to all his descendants, to the 
latest posterity. 

2. The labor of the slave is compulsory and uncompensated, 
while the kind and amount of labor are dictated solely by the 
master. No bargain is made, or wages given. A pure despo- 
tism governs the human brute. 

3. The slave being considered a personal chattel may be sold 
or exchanged for other commodities or used in any other way 
like any other piece of property ; may be sold at auction either 
Individually or in lots to suit the purchaser. Of course he may 
be separated from his family forever. 

4. Neither a slave nor free colored person can in any case be 
a witness against any white or free man in any court of justice, 
but may give testimony against a fellow slave or free colored 
man. The slave may be punished at his master's discretion with- 
out trial and without any means of redress. 

5. The slave whether male or female is not allowed to resist 
any white or free man under any circumstances. Any, the least 
resistance, even to defend chastity, may prove fatal. 

6. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic relations. 

7. The whole power of the laws is exerted to deprive the slaves 
of moral and religious instruction, and to keep them in the lowest 
state of ignorance and degradation. 

8. There is a monstrous inequality oflaw and right. What is 
a trifling offence in a while man, is punished in the negro with 
death." 

Surely, Roman slavery, in point of severity and cruelty, bare no 
comparison with this. The slave laws of the South, like the leaves 
of Draco, are written in blood. There is a law in Louisiana 
which in effect, makes it a capital offence for any white man to 
read the Bible in the presence of a slave or colored person. This 
law enacts, in substance, that if any person shall read, say or do 
any thing, by signs or in any other way, calculated to make the 
slave discontented with his condition, he shall be liable, &ic. 

Now it is plain, that the words of our text, read in the presence 
of a slave, would be calculated to make him feel discontented, and 
of course, would subject the individual who should do so, to the 
penalty in question. 

But allow me to give you another detinition of slavery, the 



11 

definition of a southern clergyman, the Rev. Robert Breckenridge 
of Baltimore. 

" What then is slavery ?" asks he, in a public discussion on the 
subject, " for the question relates to the action of certain princi- 
ples upon it, and to its probable and proper results ; what is sla- 
very as it exists among us .'' We reply, it is that condition en- 
forced by the laws of one half the stales of this confederacy, in 
which one portion of the community,called masters, is allowed such 
power over another portion called slaves ; as 

1. To deprive them of the entire earnings of their own labor, 
except only so much as is necessary to continue labor itself by 
continuing healthful existence, thus committing clear robbery. 

2. To reduce them to the necessity of universal concubinage, 
by denying to them the civil rights of marriage ; thus breaking up 
the dearest relations of life and encouraging universal prostitution. 

3. To deprive them of the means and opportunities of moral 
and intellectual culture, in many states making it a high penal of- 
fence to teach them to read, thus perpetuating whatever of evil 
there is that proceeds from ignorance. 

4. To set up between parents and childeren an authoi'ity high- 
er than the impulse of nature and the laws of God ; which breaks 
up the authority of the father over his offspring, and at pleasure 
separates the mother at a returnless distance from her child ; thus 
abrogating the dearest laws of nature ; thus outraging all decen- 
cy and justice, and degrading and oppressing thousands upon 
thousands of beings created like themselves in the image of the 
Most High God. This is slavery as it is daily exhibited in every 
slave state." 

If this be not oppression, and oppression of the most cruel char- 
acter, then there can be no such thing as oppression. But op- 
pression of every kind is condenmed in the most severe and un- 
measured terms by the word of God. 

Slavery is also contrary to the genius of our government. The 
declaration of our independence recognizes all men as free and 
equal, possessing certain inalienable rights, as life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. How odious in the sight of God must be 
the hypocrisy of reiterating such a declaration, and then, in the very 
teeth of that declaration, robbing two millions of our countrymen of 
the very rights we thus aver to be inalienable ! Henceforth when 
that instrument is read, let shame cover us. Let every fourth of 
July remind us of our iniquitous hypocricy, and instead of vain 
boastings of our country's freedom and glory, let us think of our 
guilt and our disgrace, and come before God with penitence and 
prayer, that the judgments, which by our cruel oppressions we 
have provoked and deserved, may be averted. 

The toleration of slavery in this country is utterly at variance 
^•ith our past policy, and involves our past proceedings as a na- 



J2 

^lon in gro^^s luconsistenc^v. By the war of the Revolution tee 
said thai all men are free and equal, and we stood to it at the per- 
ii of our lives and with the shedding of much blood. But by the 
toleraton of slavery, we now practically say ilia right for one class 
of men to reduce by violence another class to hopeless bondage. 

The oppressed condition of the Greeks and Poles has in turn 
excited our commiseration, and we have to some extent put forth 
our efforts in their behalf ; but when the cry of distressed, bleed- 
ing humanity has reached us from the Southern borders of our 
land, alas ! alas! our ears we have closed, our hearts we have 
hardened, and our hands have refused to help. We have turned 
away with a cold and calculating indifference, and with the feel- 
ings of the Priest and the Levite we have passed by on the other 
side. 

II. Let us now consider the duty and safety of immediate 
emancipation. 

If slavery be a sin, which is manifest, than which nothing can 
be more manifest, then it ought to be repented of without delay ; 
and immediate emancipation becomes the duty of the master and 
the right of the slave. Nothing short of such emancipation can 
be regarded as fruits meet for repentance. No man truly re- 
pents of his iniquity until he abandons it. 

Is it sinful to hold our fellow men as property, as chattels, and 
thus degrade God's inia^f f If it be, then he who does it, ought 
to cease from doing it at otjce. 

Is it sinful to compel our fellow men by violence to toil for us 
and withhold from tbeui that whicii is just and equal, thus com- 
mitting clear robbery .'' If it be, then he who does it, ought to 
cease from doing it at once. 

Is it sinful to abrogate the law of marriage and to encourage 
universal prostitution r" If it be, then he who does it, ought to 
cease frotn doing it at once. 

Is it sinful to exclude men from a knowledge of the word of 
God, and to keep them in ignorance of truth and duty, and thus 
to heathenize them i: If it be, then he who does it ought to cease 
from doing it at once. 

is it sinful to setup between parents and children an authority 
higher than the impulse of nature and the laws of God, separat- 
ing the father from his offspring and removing the mother forev- 
er from the child of her affections. If it be, then he who does it, 
ought to cease from doing it at once. 

But the slave holder abets, encourages and participates in all 
this iniquity. You are ready then, to say with me, that from such 
iniquity he ought to cease at once. You are then to all intents 
and purposes, an immediate abolitionist. You say, that no man 
ought to hold hir^ fellow man ss property, thnt no man ought to 
rob his feHoTv' man of his hon^tl e8rniwg&. rhst no man ought to 



13 

eocournge prostitution, tliat no man ought to exclude his fellow 
man from access lo the Bible, and that no man ought to hreak 
up the authority of the parent over his child, and j'ou sny right. 
It is even so. But to cease from doing this is immediate eman- 
cipation. 

But would immediate emancipation be safe f My hearers, 
what is right is always safe. What is agreeable to the will of 
God can never be unsafe. The plea of danger is the tyrant's 
plea, and utterly unworthy of patriotic and christian men. 

But let us look at the subject in view of probable consequen- 
ces. Suppose the slaves of our country all emancipated at once, 
which is by no means probable, nor hardly possible. What evils 
would result ^ Would they rise and massacre their former mas- 
ters as some persons have foolishly imagined ^ But they would 
have no motives to perpetrate such deeds of blood. Men do not 
act, especially in such a perilous and murderous enterprise, with- 
out motives. But in this case they could have no motive, but 
every consideration to dissuade them. 

Moreover, ifthey would,they could accomplish no such purpose. 
The white men, even now, are two to their one in the Southern 
States, and the power is in their hands and would be for centu- 
ries to come. But [ will not occupy your time in controverting 
an apprehension so utterly groundless and preposterous. 

All history in relation to this subject shows, that immediate 
emancipation is entirely safe. The history of St. Domingo fur- 
nishes a most striking and happy illustration and proof of this po- 
sition. It was not immediate emancipation which worked mis- 
chief and havoc and ruin there. Immediate emancipation pro- 
duced the happiest results, and under its benign influence that 
Island rose as by enchantment to unwonted prosperity. But it 
was the base and tyrannical attempt of Napoleon, instigated by 
the mercenary aristocracy of the Island, lo rivet again the chains 
of those who had for a moment tasted the sweets of freedom. 
It was this which wrought untold havoc and dyed her soil in a 
profusion of blood. 

Those British West India Islands, where immediate emancipa- 
tion has been recently effected, have been thus far entirely quiet, 
orderly, and prosperous. 

We must not forget that emancipation from the tyranny of an 
irresponsible individual, is not an emancipation from law. The 
enslaved man, by being made free, is not emancipated from gov- 
ernment and lavir. He is restrained from the perpetration of 
crime by the same laws which restrain other citizens. If he steal 
he will be imprisoned, it he murders he will be hung. 

We have said tiiat all history relating to this subject shews the 
safety of immediate etnancipation. Those who pretend that im- 
mediate emancipation would be dangerons, ought to be able to ad- 



14 

diice one iiislancc at least in wliicii the consequences have been 
bad- But they cannot adduce one instance- We challenge them 
to specify one instance in which the consequences have been 
disastrous. 

HI. We are now prepared to consider some objections. And 
1. It is said, if we agitate and urge on the subject of emancipa- 
tion, we shall exasperate the South. 

I suppose we shall exasperate a portion of the South, unprin- 
cipled men who are governed entirely by worldly motives, and 
who have little regard to justice and mercy, especially when their 
own interest is concerned. But there are chrisuans, we trust, and 
jnen of principle atthe South, who will be influenced by the truth. 
Such men tvUlhzve regard to the dictates of reason, justice, and 
mercy. And suppose you do exasperate a class of oppressors, 
if it be the light of truth, if it be an exposure of their iniquity 
which offends them, how can it be avoided. We cannot but 
speak the things which we know of their oppressions, nor ought 
we to suppress the counsel of God on any subject. In short, we 
ought to "obey God rather than men." The honor of our Zion, 
the welfare of our country, and the happiness of our children, 
and children's children, are all deeply involved, and all urge us 
to speak out fearlessly on this subject. 

Besides, it is impossible to assail long standing systems of ini- 
quity without offending more or less their adherents; for by this 
craft they have their living, and mercenary men will not quietly 
relinquish their sources of gain, though ever so unjust. 

When our Saviour assailed the iniquitous system of Judaism, 
the Jews sought to kill him, and did finally crucify him. 

When Paul attempted to abolish idolatry and to plant Chris- 
tianity, it affected tiie interests of many, and they well nigh beat 
him to death. 

When Stephen boldly declared the truth, the mobocracy rose 
upon him, and his fidelit) cost him his life. 

When Luther denounced the abominations of Popery and de- 
claimed against the lucrative traffic of indulgencies, the clergy 
of that age, and others interested in keeping up the existing in- 
stitutions, regarded him as a fire brand, a rabid agitator, and poun- 
ced upon him with unwonted bitterness. And if we now assail 
the iniquitous system of slaveiy, it will not be strange if many in- 
terested men should be exasperated. 

But we have just as much right, and it is just as much our du- 
ty to expose the abominable system of slavery, as it is to tell idol- 
aters that they should turn from the worship of idols to the ser- 
vice of the living God. Nor should we forbear, whatever oppo- 
sition and persecution we may encounter. Did Jesus Christ 
forbear ? Did the apostles hush up, when they were commanded 
by the civil authorities to teach and to jtreach no more in that 



15 

name ? " Whether it were belter to obey God or men, judge 
ye," said they. Did Luthor quail when threatened witli ihe hor- 
rors of the inquisition f No, being lawlulled called to ap[)ear at 
the Diet of Worms on a certain occasion, he told his friends who 
endeavored to dissuade him, that he would go, " though as many 
devils as there are tiles on the houses were there combined against 
him." 

2. Again. It is said, and they say, that we must not interfere 
with their domestic relations. 

This is just as if one man should seize another by the throat 
and make him his prisoner, and when others attempted to inter- 
fere, should exclaim, stand off, gentlemen, stand off — beware how 
you interfere with my domestic relations. The truth is, the Oj)- 
pressors there, have go't a certain class of our countr3mien in their 
power, innocent men, and they are crushing them to death. They 
are driving the iron into their very souls, and now they say wc 
must not interfere. 

An hundred and fifty of our countrymen, while coasting along 
the Medileranean, are captured by the pirates, and when we es- 
say to effect their rescue, their oppressors say to us, stand ofi', 
stand off, you must not interfere with our domestic relations. 

We challenge any man to shew that these are not parallel ca- 
ses. We have just as much right to interfere in the one case as 
in the other. We affirm, that in every such case, it is our duty 
to interfere. The law of nature and the law of nations is violated, 
a law which all men have an interest in maintaining. The great 
and fundamental principle of duty and of right vvhicli lies back of 
all human constitutions and human arrangements, and which binds 
the moral world together, is outraged, a principle which all the 
universe are concerned to sustain. 

3. But it is a political question. Yes, just as much as the 
question whether men ought to keep the ten coinmandments — 
just as much as the question whether the bible ought to be observ- 
ed as the rule of our faith and practice, — -just as much as the 
question whether men ought to be allowed to steal and rob, or not. 
If rulers encourage theft and robbery and oppose truth and 
righteousness, why then, we ought to withstand them, and with as 
much zeal and decision as did Nehemiah. 

If political men and aspiring demagogues will drag this subject 
into political service and make use of it in their political manoeu- 
vres, let the responsibility and the blame rest where they ought, 
but let not the cause of humanity suffer by such perversion. 

4. But it will divide the union. Emancipation or the agitation 
of this subject, it is said, will divide the union. 

The correctness of this position we deny. The prediction, we 
believe, is warranted neither by past experience nor by the 
nature of the case. Judging from past experience, if ever the 



union is aividfvd, idavery will divide it. Most of the jarring ques- 
lions which have hitherto agitated the nation have originated in 
slavery. 

Yes, my hearers, slavery has laid the foundation of nearly all 
the fierce political struggles which have heretofore marked the 
proceedings of our national legislature. The elements of the so- 
cial condition of the IVorth and Soutii are so different, the inhab- 
itants of the one section being entirely free, and those of the other 
divided into masters and slaves, that deep and irreconcileable col- 
lisions of interest must and will abound while slavery continues. — 
Slavery necessarily promotes feelings of rivalry and jealousy be- 
tween the states. It naturally separates our interests, makes oui 
councils discordant, and exerts an influeuce which jeopardizes our 
government. If ever the union is divided then, we predict, sla- 
very wii! do it. 

But if our union cannot be preserved but by fostering among us 
an odious system of oppression and cruelty and crime, provoking 
to God and disgraceful in view of the civilized world, it is as true 
as that there is a God. that nothing good can be preserved by crime, 

5. But the slaves are held as property, and it would require a 
great sacrifice to emancipate them. 

Why then are we told that slave holders regard their slaves as 
a burden and would be glad to get rid of them ? The two things 
do not agree. If they are a burden, then it is no sacrifice to free 
them. 

But allow that it would be a sacrifice and make some slave 
holders coniparaiivei) poor. Which has the paramount right, the 
slave to his freedom, or the master to the avails of his labor un- 
compensated ? Is it not enough that the coloured man has toiled 
hitherto for nought 'f Is it not enough that our enslaved coun- 
trymen at the South have earned enough to purchase the soil a 
half a dozen times over ? Shall we talk with pity of the hard 
case of the masters, and will any one tell us who will remunerate 
the slave for years of unrequited toil.'' Sober justice would say 
that he ought not to go out empty, but receive a fair compensation 
for his services ; that he ought to have something to begin with ; 
that he ought to be assisted, advised, and all needful helps afford- 
ed. The Hebrew who for some justifiable cause had been held 
to servitude for a term of years, at the expiration, was not to go 
out empty, but was to be liberally rewarded. 

Allow it to be a sacrifice, the sacrifice is not so great by a hun- 
dred times, as multitudes in every age of the world, have been 
compelled to make for the cause of truth and righteousness. 

When the Lord Jesus told the young man, that he must sell all 
and give to the poor, he thought it a great sacrifice. But it was 
on the whole right. In the outset of Christianity, those who em- 
braced it, suffered the loss of all things. Many, like Demetrius, 



17 

having their living by their icoiatroiis craft, were compelled to 
abandon it. The idolatrous books that were burnt, on one occa- 
sion, were worth forty ihousand pieces of silver. 

6. But the slaves are not tit for freedom and could not take care 
of themselves. 

This is in perfect keeping with most other objections to their 
emancipation, a foul slander upon the character of the coloured 
man, as well as an insult added to injury. How is it then, that they 
have so long supported both themselves and their masters, and 
not only so, but under all their disabilities many of them have 
worked themselves free. By great industry and economy and 
shrewd calculation they have bought themselves, yes, bought 
themselves. (By the %vay, how it sounds to talk of men's buying 
themselves in this hind of the free.) But in regard to their inad- 
equacy to take care of themselves, allow we to adduce a fact. In 
Trinidad, in 1829, 'there were fifteen ihousand free people of col- 
our, and not a single pauper among them. Couid the same ba 
said, of fifteen thousand of our own population inhabiting any one 
town or section of country .'' I apprehend that there is less pau- 
perism, in proportion, among the free people of colour than among 
ihe whites, even in this country, where as yet the blasting influ- 
ence of prejudice crushes the black tiian and excludes him from 
every honorable and lucrative em/j!oyment. 

And suppose they are ignorant and depraved, who hath made 
ibem so.^ Why, yiuir oppressive laws and cruel prejudice. In 
some of the slave holding states,to teach a coloured person to read 
is made a capital offence. And in no one of the Southern states 
are there any laws to protect the slaves in the right of marriage 
nor in their domestic relations. Indeed, the whole slave code of 
the South is framed with the specific design to depress and stuhify 
the coloured man and to make him a beast of burden. And will 
you take advantage of your crime to justify your oppression .'* O, 
it is a horrid mockery, an intolerable insult to humanity, justice 
and reason, to make this plea. 

No, my hearers, this plea of ignorance and incapacity will not 
answer. The very first step to prepare the slave for freedom is 
lo strike off' his chains, and thus remove the cause of his ignor- 
ance and degradation, otherwise his case is hopeless. And if 
their oppressors are disposed to do any thing for their benefit, let 
them do it afterward. 

7. But it is an exciting subject. Yes, and thanks to God that 
it is. If it were not an exciting subject we should have no hope 
of their deliverance. Notliing but excitement in this case is likely 
to lead to appropriate action. Nothing but a strong sympathy will 
break through the barriers reared by self interest and cupidity and 
do any thing effectual to rescue the victims of oppressions. And 
{he subject, surelv, has claims to our sympathy. No man posses- 
3 



■18 

sing the common sensibilities of oui' nature, no man who deserves 
the name of a man, can contemplate the wrongs of tliis oppressed 
and deeply injured people wiihoul sentiments of heartfelt commis- 
eration. My beloved hearers, 1 should have just occasion to sus- 
pect my own heart, if 1 could dwell on this subject and not find 
my inspiration in my theme. 1 plead for two millions of rational 
and immortal beings like yourseh es. I plead for the sacred cause 
of liberty, a cause dear to every American heart, I plead for the 
common rights and privileges of our nature. I plead for the great 
law of love, that fundamental principle of duty which binds the 
moral universe together. I plead for the honor of my country 
and the glory of my God. I say to every friend of liberty, to ev- 
ery friend of Zion, to every friend of your country, cease, by your 
indifference and apathy on this subject, to provoke the judgments 
of heaven upon this guilty land. INJay the time never come when 
this shall cease to be an exciting subject. Be that day far dis' 
lani. Wo, wo, wo to this land when the subject of liberty shall 
cease to excite the American bosom. 

IV. Allow^ me in the next place lo shew briefly what we can do 
and what we ought to do in behalf of the oppressed. Our text 
requires us to do something. " This is the fast thatl have chosen, 
that ye break every yoke and let the oppressed go free." 

But how is this to be done .'* This enterprise, my hearers, is 
to be carried on and accomplished by a kind but efficient moral 
influence. Now let us see what amount of moral influence may 
be brought to bear upon it. There are, in the United States, 
about seventeen thousand ministers of tire gospel of different de- 
siominations. Now let us suppose, that there are somewhere be- 
tween fifty and sixty professing christians to each minister, (which 
is not far from the truth) and we have about a million of christians 
besides the seventeen thousand ministers. Let us suppose farth- 
er, all these ministers and all these christians to be true to eman- 
cipation principles and appropriately sympathizing with the op- 
pressed. Will any one believe, that the abominable system of 
slavery could continue ten years or even five years under this im- 
mense pressure of moral influence .'' 

And have we not reason to conclude, that the period is not dis- 
tant, when all these ministers, and all these christians, and all the 
friends of our country's weal, will heartily unite in the good work 
of breaking every yoke and letting the oppressed go free .'' Must 
not every enlightened gospel minister in the land perceive, that the 
toleration of slavery is the crimson and crying sin of this nation, 
that there is no hope of introducing the millenial glory of the 
church while this state of things continues, and that the hypocricy 
of pretending to pity the heathen on the other side of the globe, 
while we have no bowels of compassion for the two millions of our 
countrymen who are legally and systematically shut out from the- 



19 

light of life, must obstruct the wheels of every benevolent enter- 
prise of the age, and eventually cover the friends of Zion with re- 
proach ? O, how fearful is the responsibility resting upon the 
ministers of the gospel in relation to this subject ! The destinies 
of the coloured race in this land are at their disposal. If instead 
of conniving at this iniquity, they would rise in their moral might, 
and faithfully plead the cause ot the oppressed, how soon would 
their chains fall off, and two millions of our benighted and injured 
countrymen stand forth emancipated, disenthralled, redeemed. 

2. The subject of slavery must be agitated as we agitate the 
temperance, missionary, or any other benevolent cause. There 
is no good reason why this subject should be hushed up any more 
than that of other great and worthy enterprises of the age. The 
discussion of either is calculated to affect the minds of some per- 
sons unpleasantly. And this is to be expected in all attempts at 
moral reform. 

3. We should be careful to embrace right principles in regard 
to this subject, the fundamental point being, that slavery is a sin 
which ought to be repented of, and that immediate emancipation 
is the duty of the master and the right af the slave. 

4. Public sentiment at the North must be rectified, and an ab- 
olition atmosphere created, so that when Southerners visit us, they 
may go back deeply impressed with the duty and necessity of im- 
mediate emancipation, as some of our tourists now return from 
England. 

5. Ministers and christians, and christian editors must cease to 
apologize for slavery by attempting to maintain its present expe- 
diency. They must utter the counsel of God on this subject, and 
not be reluctant to call things by their right names. 

6. We must cease to cherish cruel prejudices against the peo- 
ple of colour. Our prejudice against colour neutralizes our sym- 
pathy for the slave, so that all our sympathy is for the slave hold- 
er, and we talk with emotion of his sacrifices, in case of emanci- 
pation, while the daily robbery committed on the slave is over- 
looked and not mentioned. 

It is easy to perceive that if the slaves of the south were white, 
if they were Irishmen, Dutchmen, English, or any race resembling 
in complexion ourselves, such would be the sympathy enlisted in 
their behalf, that their emancipation would soon be accomplished. 
When a few of our countrymen are captured by the Algerine pi- 
rates and subjected to bondage, how it electrifies the whole na- 
tion ! Plans are imniediately put in requisition to deliver the cap- 
tives, and to chastise the robbers. 

. Besides, to cherish this prejudice is an insult to God, '• who 
hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the 
face of the earth." 

7. We must make direct efforls bv petitioning Coi^gress; and 
'"rherwise, for the abolition of sIa^'erv in the District of Columbia. 



20 

IVhSn our representatives and senators in Congress perceive ihzt 
we are in earnest, and that public sentiment will sustain them, they 
will then proceed heartily to the work of emancipation- 

8. We must give cheerfully of our substance to enlighten the 
public mind on this subject. We must circulate tracts, newspa- 
pers and other periodicals devoted to this object. We must form 
societies and in various otlier ways endeavor to enlist public sen- 
timent in behalf of the oppressed. And it will not be long ere 
the wheels of emancipation will begin to roll to the astonishment 
of the incredulous and to tlie joy of the sanguine. Nothing is 
wanting but light, discussion, free inquiry into this subject. VVe are 
aware that desperate efforts have been made to suppress discus- 
sion and to silence inquiry. Wily politicians and unprincipled dem^ 
i'.gogues have called to their aid the mobocracy of the land. But 
the paroxysm of mobs is on the wane, and a redeeming spirit is 
going forth, collected and cool, but resolute and determined, and 
that will not sleep, until "liberty is proclaimed to the captive, and 
the opening of the prison doors to them diatare bound." 

V. I shall now conclude this protracted discourse by present- 
ing some considerations which should urge us to action. 

And 1. We are all either directly or indirectly implicated in 
this iniquitous system of oppression. Let no one suppose that 
the South alone are to be blamed. IVe are guilty. By our in- 
difference, our connivance, and countenance, we have tolerated 
slavery. We have seen our coloured brother have need and we 
have shut up our bowels of pity from him ; and if we repent not 
and bring not forth fruits meet for repentance, Christ will say to 
us in the day of final reckoning, " Inasmuch as ye have not done 
it unto one of these, my brethren, ye have not done it unto me." 

2. It were better for the slave holder as well as for the slave, 
it were better for the whole country, if immediate emancipation 
were effected. To be convinced of this, you have only to con- 
trast the productiveness and prosperity of the non-slaveholding 
states with the comparatively sterile and often blighted regions of 
slavery. You have only to contrast, in point of wealth, population 
and prosperity ,the two States of Ohio and Kentucky as they stretch 
along side by side. Indeed the contrast is sufficiently striking as 
you sail down that beautiful river which divides them. On the 
one hand you will observe Ohio with her flourishing villages, well 
Cultivated farms, and industrious, thrify yeomanry, and on the 
other, Kentucky with her rather meager little towns, dilapidated 
buildings, poor negro huts, and comparatively unproductive plan- 
tations. 

3. But agniri, by nourisliins; slavery in our bosom we exhibit 
an example of gross inconsistency nnd hypocricy. Our boast of 
liberty is arrant mockery. Mourning and weeping, sackcloth 
s?nd ashes would better become us- 



21 

Other nations have just occasion to inquire, and to inquire uiih 
astonishment, where is the famed moral influence ol America, 
christian America, that land of bibles, of missionaries, of re- 
publican principles and free institutions, that she continues to 
cherish in her bosom that iniquitous system of slavery ! 

The truth is, our example, and consequently our influence, 
are all on the wrong side. They are on the side of tyrants and 
despots. And I fearlessly aver, that we are doing more to sustain 
the tyrant on his throne and the despot in his despotism — more to 
support the Holy Alliance — more to establish the divine right of 
Kings — more to favor principles of arbitrary power and persecu- 
tion, than any other or than all other nations on the face of the 
globe. The tyrants and despots of other countries love to have 
it so. They point to America and tauntingly exclaim, there is 
your land of freedom with her two millions of slaves ! 

I say, we encourage persecution. We withhold the bible from 
our coloured countrymen by violence, and this is the worst kind 
of persecution. 

How strange it is ! The missionary with the bible and other 
elements of knowledge in his hand, may go to almost every other 
country on the earth and be gratefully received by the inhabitants, 
and be encouraged to pour upon their minds the light of Revelation 
and the light of science, but when he comes to tiiese two millions 
of our countrymen, he must close his bible, and muzzle his mouth, 
and lay aside his elements of knowledge. O, my beloved coun- 
try ! thou paragon of inconsistency and hypocricy — my beloved 
country, whither will thy crimes bear thee ! May thy timely re- 
pentance avert from thee the judgments which thy sins have pro- 
voked ! My hearers, what occasion have we to humble ourselves 
before God ? 

4. The slave trade will never terminate but with the termina- 
tion of slavery. The traffic in the bodies and souls of men, both 
foreign and domestic, will continue, until the demand for slaves 
ceases, and that demand will cease only with the abolition of sla- 
very. And be it remembered, that in the eye of heaven, there is 
no difference between slave trading and slave holding. The abet- 
tor is criminal equally with the principal. 

5. My hearers, if your souls were in their soul's stead — if you 
were shut out from all that makes life desirable or death comfort- 
able — if you were chained down to one spot of earth and doomed 
to ceaseless toil by the iron hand of oppression, and not allowed to 
plead your own cause, what would you wish and expect us to do 
for you ? Would you not wish and expect us to urge on with all 
our might and influence your cause ? Well, beloved hearers, (hey 
cannot plead their own cause. They are muzzled and cannot 
speak — manacled and cannot lift the imploring hand — fettered 
and cannot go forth to tell the story of their vvrongs. They ex- 



22 

peel us to plead for theui ; and He wlio is ihe friend of rhe poor 
■ and oppressed expects us to plead for them. They are anxiously 
lioping, expecting, waiting for us. Their hearts cry out for deliv- 
erance, "How long, O Lord, how long .^" when will die abolitionists 
come and their efforts be made effectual to our rescue ? "As ye 
would then that others should do to you, do ye even so to them." 

G. My hearers, it is not impossible but the tables may be turn- 
ed at some future period not very remote, and they in turn have 
the ascendency. In what attitude should we then be placed and 
what principles should we then advocate ? You may think this a 
vain thought, but events less probable have transpired. Where is 
flourishing Tyre who once made merchandize of the souls of men.** 
And where are many other nations whom God has plucked up 
and destroyed for their oppressions ? 

My hearers, I tremble, when, in connexion with the crimes of 
this country, 1 think that God is just. His patience must be nearly 
exhausted. In what way his judgments will come upon us, I 
pretend not to predict. That, without repentance, they will come 
and will not tarry, I have no more doubt than I have that I stand 
before you this day. If the coloured people of the South, multi- 
plying as they do much faster than the whites, and being borne 
down with oppressions no longer to be endured, should 
eventually rise in their might and necessarily produce fearful hav- 
oc and ruin, it would be no more than we have justified by our 
declaraUon of independence ; it would be no more than a righ- 
eous retribution at the hand of God. 

The blacks are here and must remain here. If we do them 
justice and treat them kindly we may live together in amity and be 
of mutual benefit. But if we proceed to increase our despotism, 
and to rivet closer the bands of oppression, be assured, jealousy 
and revenge, and despair,on the part of this down-trodden people, 
those fearful elements, will ultimately complete the work of de- 
struction, and God will rear something more acceptable on the 
ruins of this fallen nation. O, how earnestly ihould we pray that 
we may eschew the latter and pursue the former. 



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